Why is there a catholic and a Protestant Cemetary

[valiermn]

Why are catholics burried on seperate grounds than Protestants. i have often wondered this. In My home town the Cemetary is divided by a road. I was told the reason for this was that only catholics are going to heaven.

 

[Reuben_J]

Why are catholics burried on seperate grounds than Protestants. i have often wondered this. In My home town the Cemetary is divided by a road. I was told the reason for this was that only catholics are going to heaven.

Protestants go to heaven; Catholics go to purgatory. You need different departure exits.

 

[twosweetgirls]

Protestants go to heaven; Catholics go to purgatory. You need different departure exits.

Was that supposed to be funny?

 

[Reuben_J]

Was that supposed to be funny?

Sorry I just cannot find better reason for the separate cemetaries, except for maybe because of the difference in belief.

Quite funny depend on how you see it.

 

[O.S.Luke]

Protestants go to heaven; Catholics go to purgatory. You need different departure exits.

But you’ll still have to change planes in Atlanta.

 

[a_mirror_dimly]

But you’ll still have to change planes in Atlanta.

Still better than heading to hell, they make you go through O’Hare AND Heathrow

 

[Hajnalcsillag]

Still better than heading to hell, they make you go through O’Hare AND Heathrow

Then maybe “purgatory” refers to the constant delays in Dallas-Fort Worth? We’re all supposed to go somewhere, but if you go through DFW you’ll be there a LONG time and never know where you’re going and when.

 

[LDNCatholic]

Why are catholics burried on seperate grounds than Protestants. i have often wondered this. In My home town the Cemetary is divided by a road. I was told the reason for this was that only catholics are going to heaven.

They aren’t always. Our local graveyard has Protestants and Catholics buried side by side, there are Jewish and Muslim graves too. That is the case with the majority of graveyards in the U.K. as they tend to be owned by the local council. I suppose in some cases it depends who owns the graveyard.

 

[Reuben_J]

But you’ll still have to change planes in Atlanta.

Oh, I don’t mind the transit. At times I can’t afford business and so I make do with economy but at least I can be sure I’ll reach my destination. It’s good to take the direct of course, but nowadays, the immigration check at JFK is quite stringent. They may not allow boarding if they detect some noncompliance in your document and that mean you may head deep — south, the other alternate destination.

 

[Evan]

I hope it is ok to jump in here and respond to the original query. I think the most probable reason is coming soon. On all souls day, there is generally offered at every catholic cemetary a mass for the dead. So this would be said on the catholic side of the road. Although it is said for all the dead, it is a time when catholics gather at the graves of their loved ones to pray for their eventual coming home to heaven.

Since protestants don’t generally hold with purgatory, there is no similar gathering on their side of the road.

Around the Seattle area we have designated cemetaries that are specifically catholic and, in pepetuity, the body of the deceased will be honored. With the changing of the wind, the protestant communities may change their theology, as they have done in the past on other topics, and desecrate the graves.

 

[water]

I guess you could say that because Catholics like to have different statues such as Jesus, Mary, Angels, Cross, Crucifix, etc …

 

[BlestOne]

Why are catholics burried on seperate grounds than Protestants. i have often wondered this. In My home town the Cemetary is divided by a road. I was told the reason for this was that only catholics are going to heaven.

Because Catholics are required to be buried on hallowed grounds and Protestants aren’t. Literally, the land has to be blessed or you can’t bury Catholics there.

 

[mercygate]

Why are catholics burried on seperate grounds than Protestants. i have often wondered this. In My home town the Cemetary is divided by a road. I was told the reason for this was that only catholics are going to heaven.

OK, there have been some funny answers here but the real answer is not Catholic versus Protestant, it’s Catholic versus non-Catholic.

Catholics in good standing with the Church are to be buried in consecrated ground. We’ve had some brouhahas around here when open and notorious evil-livers have been refused a Catholic funeral and burial in consecrated ground.

Jews also have “segregated” cemeteries.

 

[Marquette]

Ok, so what is the answer for me then? My husband was Catholic but hadn’t attended for years. I didn’t become Catholic until 2006 and he returned to the church at that time. BEFORE this happened, knowing we were moving far away for our retirement but wanting to be buried in the city we had lived in for 31 years, we purchased two plots AND a gravestone that is engraved with everything but our dates of death in a non-Catholic cemetery.

Are we supposed to sell our plots and buy two in the Catholic cemetery and pay to have the gravestone moved? Also, to complicate things, our first son who died when only one day old is buried near the plots we had purchased. We really wanted to be near him.

 

[mercygate]

Ok, so what is the answer for me then? My husband was Catholic but hadn’t attended for years. I didn’t become Catholic until 2006 and he returned to the church at that time. BEFORE this happened, knowing we were moving far away for our retirement but wanting to be buried in the city we had lived in for 31 years, we purchased two plots AND a gravestone that is engraved with everything but our dates of death in a non-Catholic cemetery.

Are we supposed to sell our plots and buy two in the Catholic cemetery and pay to have the gravestone moved? Also, to complicate things, our first son who died when only one day old is buried near the plots we had purchased. We really wanted to be near him.

Um. Why not ask somebody in the “Catholic Cemetery Business?” I am sure a phone call would give you the skinny. Or talk to your pastor.

I don’t think this is quite on the level of Big Time canonicity (but what do I know?). As a convert, I’m still telling people to put my remains in a Hefty Bag with a rock and throw me into the East River.

 

[amontoya]

Are we supposed to sell our plots and buy two in the Catholic cemetery and pay to have the gravestone moved?

There is a part of the Catholic burial when the priest consecrates the ground at the graveside, so you don’t need to sell your plots.

 

[theistgal]

Cemeteries used to be “churchyards” - literally right next to the church. So each church would have its own cemetery. When towns became larger and cemeteries started moving to the outskirts of town, there was still a natural tendency for each church to want to continue to oversee its own people’s graves. That’s probably why you see “Catholic” and “Protestant” cemeteries (and Jewish ones too).

 

[RobHom]

Because Catholics are required to be buried on hallowed grounds and Protestants aren’t. Literally, the land has to be blessed or you can’t bury Catholics there.

Yes, and that was what I was going to post. You beat me to it!

 

[Marquette]

There is a part of the Catholic burial when the priest consecrates the ground at the graveside, so you don’t need to sell your plots.

Thank you!!!

 

[masuwerte]

Because Catholics are required to be buried on hallowed grounds and Protestants aren’t. Literally, the land has to be blessed or you can’t bury Catholics there.

Is this really a rule or just a custom? Is there anything in the Catechism about this? Just my observation, but here in my hometown anybody can be buried in the public cemetary but only Catholics (and maybe non-Catholic spouses) are buried in the Catholic cemetary. What if a Catholic is buried in non-hallowed ground?